Week 16: The New Year Season Around the World

Over the years there have been many different calendars to represent the cycles of time. People created these calendars in different ways for different reasons. Some calendars follow the patterns of the Moon while others follow the patterns of the Sun or even planting seasons. The first calendars in Africa followed the Moon and the seasons. These were eventually written down in an ancient Bible text called the Book of Jubilees.

For people who use the Biblical calendar, there are 30 days most months but four months have 31 days. The extra days in the longer months are considered Shabbats or Sabbaths of the Year. These Shabbats of the Year are actually solstices and equinoxes. These represent the changing of seasons. The New Year began in Spring when new things grew and new life began in nature.

As more people left the African continent, calendars began to represent many other ideas. 4,000 years ago, the Babylonians had a festival every year to celebrate the New Year at the beginning of Spring. This is counted as the original New Year celebration. Then in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar made a calendar (the Julien Calendar) synced with the Sun instead of the Moon. He named the first day of his New Year after one of his Roman gods, Janus; the god of new beginnings with a face that looked backwards and another that looked forward. This is when January or the Month of Janus became the first month in the new calendar. Later, some Christians wanted to change the calendar to be more aligned with their ideas, events in their biblical doctrine or the birth of Jesus Christ. In Ethiopia, the people kept the earliest Christian calendar while European Christians eventually confirmed their calendars by including the European pagan gods and changing their names or attaching them to a Christian concept. This means that throughout Europe there were many different calendars at the same time. You might be in one city on the 3rd of the month and travel to the next city and be there on the 11th of the previous month. Confusing? Indeed!

Eventually in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII (the 13th) created his own calendar to unify the days and months in Europe. His new calendar was named after him, the Gregorian calendar. He went back to the Month of Janus as the first month of the year. January 1st was the first day of the year throughout Europe.

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Monday, January 10, 2021

HISTORY OF THE NEW YEAR'S EVE BALL

Here in America the new year is January 1st of every year. America, like most Westernized nations uses the Gregorian calendar for everyday use and to indicate holidays as well as changes of seasons. Traditionally, there is a celebration that begins on December 31st which is New Year's Eve. People gather in their homes, ball rooms, clubs, religious facilities and even pour into the city streets of downtown districts across America to shout out in one loud voice "HAPPY NEW YEAR!'' as the clock strikes 12:00AM midnight. The most famous city for bringing in the New Year with a big gang is Times Square in New York City. At midnight a huge crystal ball drops from a flagpole and fireworks light up the night sky as people dance, hug, kiss and celebrate all the the streets. Due to COVID19 Pandemic, all social gatherings have changed and are greatly reduced to prevent the spread of the virus. Depending on where you are in the world as well as your cultural and religious background also play a part into how you bring in your new year. This week we will take a look at how New Year's Day is celebrated around the world and within different cultures.

Revelers began celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year's Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. Seven versions of the Ball have been designed to signal the New Year.

The first New Year's Eve Ball, made of iron and wood and adorned with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. It was built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, and for most of the twentieth century the company he founded, sign maker Artkraft Strauss, was responsible for lowering the Ball.

As part of the 1907-1908 festivities, waiters in the fabled "lobster palaces" and other deluxe eateries in hotels surrounding Times Square were supplied with battery-powered top hats emblazoned with the numbers "1908" fashioned of tiny light bulbs. At the stroke of midnight, they all "flipped their lids" and the year on their foreheads lit up in conjunction with the numbers "1908" on the parapet of the Times Tower lighting up to signal the arrival of the new year.

The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime "dimout" of lights in New York City. Nevertheless, the crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked at the base of the tower—a harkening-back to the earlier celebrations at Trinity Church, where crowds would gather to "ring out the old, ring in the new."

BALL FUN FACTS

• The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds.

• The Ball is covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles that vary in size, and range in length from 4 ¾ inches to 5 ¾ inches per side.

• For Times Square 2021, 192 Waterford Crystal triangles introduce the new Gift of Happiness design represented by a sunburst of bright cuts radiating outward like a beautiful sunny day bringing warm smiles and happiness. 192 are the Gift of Goodwill design of three pineapples signifying the traditional symbol of hospitality and goodwill. 192 is the Gift of Harmony design of small rosette cuts flowing into each other in beautiful harmony. 192 are the Gift of Serenity design of butterflies flying peacefully above a crystal meadow capturing the spirit of serenity. 192 are the Gift of Kindness design of a circle of rosettes symbolizing unity with the fronds reaching out in an expression of kindness. 192 are the Gift Of Wonder design of a faceted starburst inspiring our sense of wonder. 192 are the Gift of Fortitude design of diamond cuts on either side of a crystal pillar to represent the inner attributes of resolve, courage and spirit necessary to triumph over adversity. The remaining 1,344 triangles are the Gift of Imagination design of a series of intricate wedge cuts that are mirrored reflections of each other, inspiring our imagination.

• The 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles are bolted to 672 LED modules which are attached to the aluminum frame of the Ball.

• The Ball is illuminated by 32,256 LEDs (light emitting diodes). Each LED module contains 48 LEDs — 12 red, 12 blue, 12 green, and 12 white for a total of 8,064 of each color.

• The Ball is capable of displaying a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns that creates a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.

A Different Times Square New Year's Eve Celebration

If you were King or Queen of your own nation and could create your own calendar and New Year's Day celebration, would you use a different way to count the cycle of the months and years? How would your kingdom celebrate the New Year. Use the sheet found here or your own paper and pen to talk about your New Year celebration.

Tuesday, January 11, 2021

Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is the most important among the traditional Chinese festivals. The origin of the Chinese New Year festival can be traced back to about 3,500 years ago. Its exact beginning is not recorded. Some people believe that Chinese New Year originated inthe Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC), when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning or the end of each year. There is an annual 15-dayfestival in China and Chinese communities around the world that begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. Festivities last until the following full moon. Chinese New Year occurs on Friday, February 12, 2021, in many of the countries that celebrate it.

New Year's Festivities in China

Fun Facts About Chinese New Year For Kids

Everyone wears new clothes.

Kids are especially happy to show their beautiful new clothes to their little friends and others.

Kids receive red envelopes as gifts.

Red envelopes are the best gifts for kids.

Instead of wrapped gifts that western nationalities give at Christmas, children get red envelopes stuffed with lucky money from grandparents, uncles, aunts and other elders who have started to earn their way. The happy fact is that kids are allowed to spend the money as they like.

They can eat various delicious foods.

The most famous festival food is dumplings. Additionally, many others are served to treat the families, including rice cakes (Niangao), spring rolls, fish, and rice dumplings. They are served not only at the reunion dinner, but during the whole holiday; not only at home, but at relatives' places and temple fairs.

Everyone gets one year older.

It is like a national birthday and it doesn’t matter when you were born. For kids, it means they are able to do more things on their own.

1 Month Long Vacation off School – the happiest thing for kids! About 15 to 20 days before the festival, all children will get a 1-month winter vacation and they will no longer be troubled by school work. Totally soaked themselves in the long relaxing time, they do not need to get up early. When finishing the homework, they can have fun with buddies, doing sports or playing games. For kids in north China, winter vacation means a lot of fun with ice and snow

Chinese New Year Good Luck Food

Dumplings - wealth

Spring Rolls - wealth & fresh start

Glutinous Rice Balls - Family Reunion

Wontons - Wealth & Treasures

Glutinous Rice Cakes - Rise in career & salary

Whole Fish - Surplus & Fortune

Try making your own glutinous rice balls at home with this simple recipe:

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

South African New Year

Public Life

New Year’s Day is a public holiday in South Africa. South Africa’s Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994) determines that if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday.

Public transport is not affected and is usually busier than normal. Formal commercial institutions such as banks, post offices and small businesses are closed for business. Restaurants and other entertainment outlets are open with shortened hours.

Background

There is some historical background behind the concept of the “Second New Year” and the significance of its celebration in South Africa. Slavery was common during the 17th century and slaves were not granted any days off work. They were granted a day off one day a year, which would be the first day after New Year’s Day on January 2.

The slaves used this opportunity to visit friends from the one house to another, dress up in festive attire and to celebrate their own “New Year”. They utilized the second day of the New Year as a way to protest against their oppressed lifestyle by engaging in cheerful singing, dancing, and parading through the streets.

The second day of New Year was an event that grew in later years, in which brass bands were incorporated and people’s outfits became more colorful. The bands and outfits were significant to specific groups and people started to perform and compete against each other as they marched throughout the streets of Cape Town. Today’s festivities occur on New Year’s Day with more than 13,000 painted faces belonging to people dressed in colorful outfits with props, umbrellas, whistles, and other items make noise. This occasion turns Cape Town’s streets into a vibrant rush of beats and lively lyrics.

New Year's 2nd Day Celebration South Africa

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Hebrew Cultural New Year

Jewish and Hebrew people observe the New Year in similar ways. Most Hebrew people recognize the New Year by thoroughly cleaning up their home. It is typically believed that what one does on the New Year is what someone will be doing all year. This means that on New Year no one wants to have to clean all year. Hebrew people also like to eat black-eyed peas and greens to represent prosperity in the upcoming year.

Jewish people enjoy a big feasts as well. They also eat black-eyed peas which originated in West Africa. The Jewish people eat sweet foods like fruit and honey throughout New Year's day. This is in hopes of the new year being sweet or good and pleasant. They also eat fish heads which represent fertility or prosperity in the future.

Hebrew people named the months in the order in which they came. So Month One, Month Two, Month Three, and so on. Later some Hebrews adopted the Babylonian names for the months. Today, Jewish people still use the Babylonian names and some Hebrew people do as well. Some Hebrews do not use the Babylonian names.

The first month is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. It is the month of Passover, Tishrei. This month would be the seventh month if counting from Nissan (the accepted 1st month in most of Jewish society). Jewish people celebrate the New Year as Rosh Hashanah. Which like with Hebrews, is observed as the Head of the Year.

Friday, January 15, 2021

Ethiopian New Year or Enkutatash

New Year fun for Ethiopian children includes gift giving tradition is very popular for Enkutatash. Every year starts off with going to church in the morning. After church, friends and family will gather together to share a traditional meal of injera (flatbread) and wat (stew). In the afternoon, things get really exciting for children. Young girls will change into new clothes and venture out to collect daisies for friends and family. The daisies are often gifted as a bouquet accompanied by New Year’s songs and dancing. They will receive a gift in return which is usually money or bread. Young boys participate in a similar activity by drawing pictures of saints and giving them out. They would also receive some type of gift in exchange, which is usually money. While a bunch of flowers is a very traditional gift, people have started a new trend of sending each other New Year greeting cards in modern times.